Eragrostis ciliaris
Eragrostis silveana
gophertail lovegrass
Silveus' lovegrass
(3)9-75 cm, erect or geniculate in the lower portion, not rooting at the lower nodes, glabrous.
45-60 cm, erect, often glandular below the nodes, sometimes viscid.
hairy on the margins and at the apices, hairs to 4 mm;
ligules 0.2-0.5 mm;
blades 1.8-12(15) cm long, 2-5 mm wide, usually flat, occasionally involute, glabrous or ciliate basally.
often viscid, sometimes sparsely pilose, hairy at the apices, hairs to 6 mm;
ligules 0.2-0.3 mm;
blades 8-25 cm long, 2-4 mm wide, flat to involute, glabrous, sometimes viscid.
1.7-15 cm long, 0.2-5 cm wide, cylindrical, contracted or open, branches usually forming glomerate lobes, sometimes more open, often interrupted in the lower portion;
primary branches 0.4-4 cm, appressed or diverging to 50° from the rachises;
pulvini usually glabrous, occasionally sparsely pilose;
pedicels 0.1-1 mm, erect, shorter than the spikelets, glabrous.
20-35(42) cm long, 10-22 cm wide, broadly ovate, open, bases included in the uppermost leaf sheaths;
primary branches 5-14 cm, diverging 20-90° from the rachises, capillary, sometimes viscid, naked basally;
pulvini hairy, hairs to 6 mm;
pedicels (1)1.5-12 mm, diverging or appressed.
1.8-3.2 mm long, 1-2 mm wide, elliptical-ovate to ovate-lanceolate, yellowish-brown, sometimes with a purple tinge, with 6-11 florets;
disarticulation basipetal, glumes peristent.
(2.5)3-4.8 mm long, 0.9-1.4 mm wide, linear-lanceolate, reddish-purple, with 4-9 florets;
disarticulation basipetal, glumes persistent.
ovate to lanceolate, keels scabridulous, veins commonly green, apices acute;
lower glumes 0.7-1.2 mm;
upper glumes 1-1.6 mm;
lemmas 0.8-1.3 mm, elliptical-ovate to lanceolate, membranous, keels scabridulous, lateral veins evident, apices obtuse to acute;
paleas 0.8-1.3 mm, membranous, keels prominently ciliate, cilia 0.2-0.8 mm, apices obtuse to acute;
anthers 2, 0.1-0.3 mm, purplish.
lanceolate, membranous;
lower glumes 0.9-1.2 mm;
upper glumes 1-1.3 mm;
lemmas 1.1-1.4 mm, ovate to lanceolate, membranous, 3-veined, apices acute;
paleas 1-1.4 mm, hyaline, not wider than the lemmas, apices obtuse;
anthers 3, 0.2-0.3 mm, purplish.
0.4-0.5 mm, ovoid, reddish-brown.
0.5-0.6 mm, ellipsoid, terete in cross section, neither ridged nor grooved, faintly striate, reddish-brown.
= 20, 40.
= unknown.
Eragrostis ciliaris
Eragrostis silveana
Eragrostis ciliaris is native to the paleotropics. It is naturalized in parts of the United States, growing along roadsides, on waste sites, in xerothermic vegetation, and sometimes in saline habitats, at 0-200 m. It may be more widespread than indicated.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Eragrostis silveana grows in various open habitats, from sandy prairies to clay loam flats, near roadsides, railroads, and fields at 0-100 m. Its range is limited to the coastal plain of Texas and northern Mexico. Morphologically, E. silveana is somewhat intermediate between E. spectabilis and E. curtipedicellata, and grows where the distribution of these two species overlaps.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Panicles 0.2-1.5 cm wide, contracted, the branches mostly appressed to the rachises, congested, forming glomerate lobes; spikelets densely packed | var. ciliaris |
1. Panicles 1.5-5 cm wide, open, the branches spreading 20-50° from the rachises; spikelets widely separated from each other | var. laxa |
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